Suzuka, 2005
Last November Fernando Alonso pulled off one of the greatest passes I've ever seen in an F1 race, and probably the greatest in the contemporary era. It happened late in the season at the Suzuka circuit during the Japanese Grand Prix. By that time, Alonso had already won enough points to lock up the Driver's Championship, though his team Renault had yet to win the Constructor's Championship. Throughout the season, Alonso was renowned for making few mistakes, driving consistently fast but overall conservatively. However, after Brazil and the Championship, he quite simply let it loose, and raced for racing's sake. It was a rare chance to see someone who ranks among the best in the world in their element.
Some context is required. As I understand it, in modern-day F1 aerodynamics is the primary concern for car designers. The engines are absurdly powerful, and mechanical technology is such that everything can be made secondary to how air flows around the car. Aerodynamics dominates so much that the cars can be seen as essentially air-lifting machines, taking air (sacrificing for drag) and either pushing it up to generate downforce or creating uncontrolled turbulence in the wake. This 'dirty' air disrupts flow of the next car.
This means that as aerodynamic technology gets better and better, it becomes more and more difficult for following cars to break out of the lead car's wake, develop speed, and overtake. In past eras, there was a concept called slipstreaming, where the lead car's wake generated a low pressure zone, lowering drag for a following car and actually making passing easier. I think the situation is reversed today, or at least pre-2006. In recent seasons, there might be some slipstreaming, but overtaking has been virtually absent due to the difficulties posed by the aero effect. On top of this, several courses are designed with few enough genuine overtaking opportunities, making it boring for both spectators and drivers.
In contrast, I've heard that Suzuka and Spa Francorchamps in Belgium are the favorite tracks among drivers, and it is probably no coincidence that they both have two of the hardest turns in Formula 1. To describe Suzuka and 130R, I'll spit out a bunch of numbers and explain them afterwards.
130R is the name of Turn 15 at Suzuka, named for supposedly having a turn radius of 130 meters. As described on the linked site, the left-hand turn is typically taken at ~180 mph in top gear, and lateral G force is listed as 4.0. That's halfway to a blackout. Take a 45lb iron weight you see in the gym, and tie it to your head in a snug fashion. Bend your neck left and right, and do that for a few seconds every minute, for 2 hours. Then take a picture, and send it to me. Of course I won't show it to anyone. But that's what it's like. Sometimes during a race, you can see drivers leaning their heads against the cockpits all through a lap, just from the fatigue.
Another way to put it into perspective is that most passenger cars have lateral G-force limits (essentially how fast it can take turns) around .75g or so, before the tires start to lose grip. Sports cars are typically .80+, though the newer and rarer ones are breaking 1.0(Evo, current Viper, probably the new Z06, and any Lotus). Some of these cars might even do 180mph, but you will never see one turning at that speed except on a heavily banked turn. 130R and Eau Rouge at Spa are flat, as far as I know. In sum, it is one of the hardest turns in F1. It is the kind of turn that make the fastest grown men in the world pee their pants, though admittedly maybe it is because races take a long time and you have to drink a lot of water to hydrate. Who ever heard of an F1 driver taking a mid-race pit stop for a 'pit stop'? But getting back to the facts, 130R is one of the last turns at Suzuka, coming at the end of a long high-speed straight, and setting the car up for another long straight where the start-finish line is.
Now I'm pretty good at most racing games, having spent a little bit more of my life on them than is evolutionarily healthy. I like them because after a while, I start to zone, not thinking about anything else in life, not really thinking about anything at all. At that point I can test myself, corner by corner, working through a race. I'll get to the point where I know absolutely I'll do a perfect lap, and I end up breaking the track record. And then the next lap, I'll break it again. Of course, the next lap I'll screw up and curse randomly for about ten minutes, and start over.
Having said that, I've played Suzuka on both Gran Turismo 4 (PS2) and Ferrari F355 (arcade and DC), two games which are said to be the most accurate simulations in their time. Having said that, I've never, ever, been able to get 130R right, not anywhere close. Even with slower, video-game perfect sports cars, I usually have to drop down a gear or two, just because the loss in speed still means less time lost than the inevitable off-track excursion. Yes, its pathetic to compare a video game to real life, even with today's games... but that's exactly my point.
130R is an extremely difficult turn. Fernando Alonso did it at full speed, at 180mph and 4.0g, while passing six-time World Champion Michael Schumacher on the outside.
Taking the inside line of a turn during a pass is always easier, since it forces the passed car onto a longer route around the outside. To attempt a pass on the outside means you either have an astronomically faster car, or that you are insane. Alonso's Renault was probably 2nd fastest of the field, but it wasnt that much faster than Schumacher's Ferrari. Alonso had been held up behind Schumacher for 7 laps prior to the pass.
One of the unwritten rules in F1, and racing in general, is that whoever has a lead by half a car's length going into a turn has right of way. On the long straight approaching the left-hand turn, Schumacher slowly inched leftward, in order to block Alonso from taking the inside line. Alonso matched, staying in Schumacher's wake. But at the last second, Alonso veered right and was able to break free. They were side by side for a whole second or two just before the turn.
"Side by side" is the moment of glory for F1. It's like a football in midair just near the receiver, a baseball racing a runner to home plate, a basketball thrown at the buzzer, or me in Counter-Strike jumping off a ledge with only a knife and a grenade, deftly catching an enemy's rear guard below by surprise. Ahh, the glory. Anyway, in F1 side-by-sides are basically the reason to watch, as it is the exact moment when one driver proves he is faster than another.
The last aspect of the pass is the sheer speed. At those speeds, there is space for only one car at a time in a turn. Drivers either have to take the optimal line of pre-turn outside to inside apex to post-turn outside of the road, or to slow down. So when Alonso and Schumacher were side-by-side, someone had to give way. I don't know the precise sequence of events in those two seconds, but I doubt Alonso had the half-car-length right of way. It might have been a game of chicken at 180mph for all I know.
What I do know is that Schumacher blinked, and lifted off the throttle. At those speeds, that was basically like braking, since aero drag would instantly slow the car. Alonso took the line, and commentators around the world started screaming. I know that for a fact. The entire pass, everything I just wrote, took less than three seconds.
In his defense, although Schumacher got passed, the fact that it happened is also a testament to Schumacher's skill. Had two lesser drivers been involved, there possibly might have been a collision, leading to both cars losing control.
That's like a euphemism, because losing control in a turn at 175mph+ is Klingon for "you die, spectacularly". No technology exists to reliably dissipate that kind of energy, short of installing next generation airbags all over every track in the world. It's one of those few situations in which your living past the next millisecond is subject to some probably low probability... but then again it would be the singularly most interesting millisecond of your life.
Alonso went on to take third place, from a 16th place start, passing Schumacher again after a pitstop. He also passed Mark Webber's Williams-BMW on the start-finish straight, defeating Webber's block by cutting onto the grass, and stealing the line before the turn.
Try searching for a rerun of the 2005 Japan Grand Prix at Suzuka on Speed Channel's schedule every now and then, they might have it. They had unusually good announcers for that race.
5 weeks until Bahrain.
p.s., n.b, whatever: I just came across an article reporting that Michael Schumacher is training for the upcoming season by adding weights to the sides of his helmet.
Some context is required. As I understand it, in modern-day F1 aerodynamics is the primary concern for car designers. The engines are absurdly powerful, and mechanical technology is such that everything can be made secondary to how air flows around the car. Aerodynamics dominates so much that the cars can be seen as essentially air-lifting machines, taking air (sacrificing for drag) and either pushing it up to generate downforce or creating uncontrolled turbulence in the wake. This 'dirty' air disrupts flow of the next car.
This means that as aerodynamic technology gets better and better, it becomes more and more difficult for following cars to break out of the lead car's wake, develop speed, and overtake. In past eras, there was a concept called slipstreaming, where the lead car's wake generated a low pressure zone, lowering drag for a following car and actually making passing easier. I think the situation is reversed today, or at least pre-2006. In recent seasons, there might be some slipstreaming, but overtaking has been virtually absent due to the difficulties posed by the aero effect. On top of this, several courses are designed with few enough genuine overtaking opportunities, making it boring for both spectators and drivers.
In contrast, I've heard that Suzuka and Spa Francorchamps in Belgium are the favorite tracks among drivers, and it is probably no coincidence that they both have two of the hardest turns in Formula 1. To describe Suzuka and 130R, I'll spit out a bunch of numbers and explain them afterwards.
130R is the name of Turn 15 at Suzuka, named for supposedly having a turn radius of 130 meters. As described on the linked site, the left-hand turn is typically taken at ~180 mph in top gear, and lateral G force is listed as 4.0. That's halfway to a blackout. Take a 45lb iron weight you see in the gym, and tie it to your head in a snug fashion. Bend your neck left and right, and do that for a few seconds every minute, for 2 hours. Then take a picture, and send it to me. Of course I won't show it to anyone. But that's what it's like. Sometimes during a race, you can see drivers leaning their heads against the cockpits all through a lap, just from the fatigue.
Another way to put it into perspective is that most passenger cars have lateral G-force limits (essentially how fast it can take turns) around .75g or so, before the tires start to lose grip. Sports cars are typically .80+, though the newer and rarer ones are breaking 1.0(Evo, current Viper, probably the new Z06, and any Lotus). Some of these cars might even do 180mph, but you will never see one turning at that speed except on a heavily banked turn. 130R and Eau Rouge at Spa are flat, as far as I know. In sum, it is one of the hardest turns in F1. It is the kind of turn that make the fastest grown men in the world pee their pants, though admittedly maybe it is because races take a long time and you have to drink a lot of water to hydrate. Who ever heard of an F1 driver taking a mid-race pit stop for a 'pit stop'? But getting back to the facts, 130R is one of the last turns at Suzuka, coming at the end of a long high-speed straight, and setting the car up for another long straight where the start-finish line is.
Now I'm pretty good at most racing games, having spent a little bit more of my life on them than is evolutionarily healthy. I like them because after a while, I start to zone, not thinking about anything else in life, not really thinking about anything at all. At that point I can test myself, corner by corner, working through a race. I'll get to the point where I know absolutely I'll do a perfect lap, and I end up breaking the track record. And then the next lap, I'll break it again. Of course, the next lap I'll screw up and curse randomly for about ten minutes, and start over.
Having said that, I've played Suzuka on both Gran Turismo 4 (PS2) and Ferrari F355 (arcade and DC), two games which are said to be the most accurate simulations in their time. Having said that, I've never, ever, been able to get 130R right, not anywhere close. Even with slower, video-game perfect sports cars, I usually have to drop down a gear or two, just because the loss in speed still means less time lost than the inevitable off-track excursion. Yes, its pathetic to compare a video game to real life, even with today's games... but that's exactly my point.
130R is an extremely difficult turn. Fernando Alonso did it at full speed, at 180mph and 4.0g, while passing six-time World Champion Michael Schumacher on the outside.
Taking the inside line of a turn during a pass is always easier, since it forces the passed car onto a longer route around the outside. To attempt a pass on the outside means you either have an astronomically faster car, or that you are insane. Alonso's Renault was probably 2nd fastest of the field, but it wasnt that much faster than Schumacher's Ferrari. Alonso had been held up behind Schumacher for 7 laps prior to the pass.
One of the unwritten rules in F1, and racing in general, is that whoever has a lead by half a car's length going into a turn has right of way. On the long straight approaching the left-hand turn, Schumacher slowly inched leftward, in order to block Alonso from taking the inside line. Alonso matched, staying in Schumacher's wake. But at the last second, Alonso veered right and was able to break free. They were side by side for a whole second or two just before the turn.
"Side by side" is the moment of glory for F1. It's like a football in midair just near the receiver, a baseball racing a runner to home plate, a basketball thrown at the buzzer, or me in Counter-Strike jumping off a ledge with only a knife and a grenade, deftly catching an enemy's rear guard below by surprise. Ahh, the glory. Anyway, in F1 side-by-sides are basically the reason to watch, as it is the exact moment when one driver proves he is faster than another.
The last aspect of the pass is the sheer speed. At those speeds, there is space for only one car at a time in a turn. Drivers either have to take the optimal line of pre-turn outside to inside apex to post-turn outside of the road, or to slow down. So when Alonso and Schumacher were side-by-side, someone had to give way. I don't know the precise sequence of events in those two seconds, but I doubt Alonso had the half-car-length right of way. It might have been a game of chicken at 180mph for all I know.
What I do know is that Schumacher blinked, and lifted off the throttle. At those speeds, that was basically like braking, since aero drag would instantly slow the car. Alonso took the line, and commentators around the world started screaming. I know that for a fact. The entire pass, everything I just wrote, took less than three seconds.
In his defense, although Schumacher got passed, the fact that it happened is also a testament to Schumacher's skill. Had two lesser drivers been involved, there possibly might have been a collision, leading to both cars losing control.
That's like a euphemism, because losing control in a turn at 175mph+ is Klingon for "you die, spectacularly". No technology exists to reliably dissipate that kind of energy, short of installing next generation airbags all over every track in the world. It's one of those few situations in which your living past the next millisecond is subject to some probably low probability... but then again it would be the singularly most interesting millisecond of your life.
Alonso went on to take third place, from a 16th place start, passing Schumacher again after a pitstop. He also passed Mark Webber's Williams-BMW on the start-finish straight, defeating Webber's block by cutting onto the grass, and stealing the line before the turn.
Try searching for a rerun of the 2005 Japan Grand Prix at Suzuka on Speed Channel's schedule every now and then, they might have it. They had unusually good announcers for that race.
5 weeks until Bahrain.
p.s., n.b, whatever: I just came across an article reporting that Michael Schumacher is training for the upcoming season by adding weights to the sides of his helmet.
posted by joe at 5:01 PM
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